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(d. 757),

Pope from 752. (He is sometimes counted the third of his name, ‘Stephen II’ having died four days after his election.) When the Lombard king besieged Rome, the Pope turned in vain to the Byzantine Emperor for help; he then crossed the Alps to ask for assistance from the Frankish king, Pepin. From him, Stephen obtained the much-discussed ‘Donation’ of Quiercy (now often called the ‘Donation of Pepin’, 754). It was possibly in Stephen's curia that the ‘Donation of Constantine’ was produced. See also Patrimony oF St Peter.